Blog - Life in the DayngrZone

Have You Checked Out Minted Yet?

{ April 7, 2013 } - Trish

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Minted

As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes I get to blog about some really neat finds, when super sweet folks reach out to me. I was lucky enough to get an email from the good folks over at Minted.com with an offer to check out their site and their products. For example, take a peek at their unique Wedding Invitations.

But they’re not all about weddings, there are tons of other items like holiday cards, journals, birthday cards, and so much more! I Especially like their mommy play-date cards and ultra-classy business cards

I’m digging that there are tons of designers on the site that make it easy for me to find the items that speak to my creative side. I think you’ll like Minted as much as I have. In fact, Minted is a global community of independent graphic designers and an online store that prints and sells the best of their designs in the form of paper goods. Does it get any better than that?

If you’re interested in checking them out, consider registering through my referral link so you can get $25 off your order and in turn, I can get $25 off mine! Win/Win!

{What you may not know about me: My mom worked for a printing company for 35+ years. Because of that, I have an incredible love for design, beautiful stationery and paper/card stock. In turn, I followed in my mom’s footsteps and entered into the wonderful world of printing, where I worked for 20 years!}

* Disclosure * I’m receiving $100 credit from Minted for sharing my opinion of their site and products.

I’d love to hear your thought on these pretty paper products! Be sure to add your thoughts in the comments below.

Daddy Daughter Spa Day

{ March 24, 2013 } - Trish

This weekend my little one has been feeling pretty icky. Her brother got to have a play-date yesterday and because she was sick, she wasn’t able to join in on the fun. But being under the weather doesn’t mean she can’t have fun at home. She hatched a plan to get her daddy to have a daddy-daughter spa day today, since she was stuck at home. She convinced him to paint her nails and in turn, she would get to paint his. I have to say, I was pretty amazed to see their pretty purple and pink nails. Never underestimate the power a little girl has over her daddy.

Pretty darn cute, isn’t it?

What fun things do you do when your kids are at home and feeling a bit unwell? I’d love to know.

Happy New Year Traditions!

{ December 29, 2012 } - Trish

Above is a photo of our Christmas tree this year, in the dining room, taken with my new Canon EOS Rebel T3

Hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and we’re off to the start of a new year. The kids and I are looking forward to New Year’s Eve this year. We’re spending it at my aunt’s house, surrounded by family and friends. Being Italian, we’re going to have plenty of food on hand for everyone to enjoy.

Our Wacky New Year Traditions

I think one of the things I’m looking forward to the most is the fun traditions we have, like making noise at midnight by banging on pots and pans. We eat 12 grapes, one with each bell strike of the clock after midnight, and we pull out the largest bills we have in our wallets and shake our money at the moon. So silly, but fun. The kids will be experiencing this for the first time here in North Carolina.

We’re not the only ones who participate in these wacky traditions, though. Other cultures have their own New Year traditions, too. When I lived in South Florida it was pretty common to see people walking around the block with their luggage. So, it’s not just us.

Finally, It Feels Like the Holidays

Holidays here actually feel like holidays, the weather is a little cooler and we can appreciate the change of seasons.

This will be the first year that the kids can actually go outside and enjoy these traditions. Back in Miami, it just wasn’t safe to go outside because people would shoot guns in the air and I was seriously concerned someone would get hurt. One year a bullet came down and lodged in my neighbor’s carport. I’m so thrilled not to have to deal with that anymore.

I hope your new year will be filled with love and new adventures!

What holiday traditions do you have? I’d love to know.

Congratulations, Freckle Face Girl!

{ December 21, 2012 } - Trish

What fun is a giveaway if you don’t have a winner? That wouldn’t be much fun, would it? I’m so thrilled to be able to share the Playing for Keeps – Me Moment Giveaway prize package with long-time blogger buddy, Freckle Face Girl! She’s not just the winner folks, she’s a pretty cool blogger, too. Swing by her blog and congratulate her and check out what she’s blogging out. Congrats, FFG!

Pumpkin Patches, Hayrides and Making Memories

{ December 18, 2012 } - Trish

Fall is a wondrous time of year and I plan to take full advantage of it in my new home state where we get four real seasons! So what better way to celebrate cooler temps than with pumpkin patches, hayrides and making memories?

The kids and I had never been on a hayride together and we’d never picked pumpkins from a pumpkin patch. It was an extra special treat to find Mike’s Farm this year and to be able to go there right before Halloween. We had a great time with our friend Jennifer and we had a wonderful dinner, too.

Dinner at Mike’s Farm

Mike’s Farm serves their food family-style with a touch of country. Once you’re seated at one of their large farm tables they bring out bowls of fried chicken and all the sides like green beans, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, drinks and more. The pork loin and gravy is my ultimate favorite! And, you even get dessert.

There are plenty of comfortable rocking chairs on the front porch for you to relax in while waiting for your table (and friends, you will wait – the lines are legendary as is the food!) or to recuperate after eating ’til your buttons pop! Because family-style doesn’t just mean you’re all sharing the food on the table but also that the food keeps coming until you say stop.

Pumpkin Patches, Hayrides and Making Memories

As you can see, we picked some really great pumpkins! The biggest one is Rex’s. Not bad for his very first pumpkin ever! We did a great job and displayed them on our front porch when we decorated for fall. The best part of all, we’ve made some great memories in our new home and our new hometown.

Red Bull Gives You Klout

{ December 3, 2012 } - Trish

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Red Bull and Klout

I’ll admit, I’d never tried Red Bull before I got this Klout Perk so I was pretty excited to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. I’m not sure what I expected, but it tasted a bit like candy. This Klout perk was such a hit I barely finished my first can before the rest disappeared. Damn interns! But, since they were chugged down before I could even give them a try worthy of blogging about, someone owes me a 4 pack! This was a Klout Perk.

Morehead City Christmas Flotilla

{ December 2, 2012 } - Trish

Yesterday, I shared that we decorated gingerbread houses and had a wonderful time. It was a great way to start the month of December and a great way to get into the holiday spirit. Shortly after our gingerbread decorating adventure, we strolled over to the waterfront to watch the Morehead City Christmas Flotilla. It was the perfect weather, chilly but not too cold – just cool enough to make you feel like the holidays are coming! We all had a great time and look forward to adding this to our annual holiday traditions.

Here are a few photos from our evening at the Morehead City Christmas Flotilla –

Life along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast is already proving to be magnificent.

There were so many great boats decorated in such festive ways. I wish I could have captured them all. Maybe next year. Hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we did.

Be sure to check out our cute gingerbread houses and if you’d like to follow along with all our adventures in our new home town, you can follow along by checking out my blog posts on the Crystal Coast.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses for the Holidays

{ December 1, 2012 } - Trish

Today was another day for the books! The kids have been saying that they miss Florida but when I ask them what they miss, they always share memories – not places.

I explained that the memories you make travel with you wherever you go. Then I reminded them that we’re making plenty of new memories here in North Carolina, too. But, that they will still have all of their old memories of Florida.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses for the Holidays

We certainly haven’t been bored! Since moving to the Crystal Coast, I’ve made sure to look for fun events we can do together as a family to really get the kids engaged and help them fall in love with their new hometown while making new memories. Our latest adventure, decorating gingerbread houses.

Gingerbread House, make a Gingerbread house, morehead city event making gingerbread houses

We drove over to Alex and Brett’s Bakery, in downtown Morehead City, to decorate Gingerbread houses.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses, Gingerbread House, Gingerbread House decorating in Morehead City

My sweet friend, Daisy, came along for the fun, too. I’m happy to say that she made some great memories right along with us since it was her very first time decorating a gingerbread house.

The staff at Alex and Brett’s were so sweet. They made sure the kids had a wide variety of candy available to them and kept replenishing it whenever they ran low. Most of the candy made it on to the houses but some made it directly into their mouths. Kids will be kids.

We all had a great time and made some precious memories together. I think we did a pretty good job on those gingerbread houses, don’t you?

On To The Next Adventure

After we decorated to our heart’s desire, we walked over to the waterfront and Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant to watch the Christmas flotilla! Here are the flotilla photos.

If you’d like to follow along with all our adventures in our new home town, you can follow along by checking out my blog posts on the Crystal Coast.

Bigfoot, Monster Trucks and Life in North Carolina

{ November 11, 2012 } - Trish

Have You Ever Seen Bigfoot?

Not Bigfoot, the mythical creature, Bigfoot the monster truck!

We’re really getting into the swing of things here in North Carolina as we begin to build a life along the Crystal Coast. We went to see BIGFOOT for the grand opening of the Jacksonville, NC. Family Tire store! The kids had never seen a monster truck up close and personal so it was pretty exciting. After we arrived and had taken a few photos, Bella made me laugh out loud when she turned to me and said “Ok, when’s the show?” Turns out, that was what all their excitement was about. They thought there was going to be a giant monster truck rally of some sort where cars were going to be crushed. Don’t feel too sorry for them. They still had a good time. They got an autographed photo from Bigfoot’s driver and they got to drive a simulated race car. All in all, it was a fun day.

From Bigfoot to Mario Andretti

Earlier in the week, we went to the same location and they met Mario Andretti and got autographed pictures. It was a real treat since both of them are big fans of the Disney movie Cars. Now, that’s pretty cool. How many kids can say they’ve met Mario Andretti AND seen Bigfoot, too?

Family Tire, a Family Owned Business

Family Tire is a local family-owned business so, in the spirit of supporting small businesses, I’d encourage you to shop locally if you have tire needs. I’ve appreciated the family-friendly events they’ve created.

Jacksonville Family Tire
204 Yopp Road
Jacksonville, NC 28540
910-353-3700

My Memorial Weekend Crystal Coast Trip

{ July 29, 2012 } - Trish

I had this crazy idea in my head to just pick up and move. That’s right, to quit complaining about the sucky school system, the snotty school administrators, the teachers who thought they could bully, the crappy traffic, the lack of parking everywhere, the crime, the litter and the overall attitude you get from the majority of people in Miami and actually DO something about it.

Yup, I was sick and tired and I’d had enough. So, Memorial weekend I packed up the kids and took a spontaneous trip to the lovely east coast of North Carolina to check it out. I’d been thinking about getting away from what Miami had become for a while and knew I wanted to move somewhere that had four moderate seasons, plenty of green spaces, a more wholesome environment and was family-friendly. I’d been looking at real estate in a few states and figured the long holiday weekend was as good a time as any to check out some of the homes I’d liked, along the Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coastal Living

Once we arrived, the kids got a taste of coastal living. My cousins live right on the beach in Emerald Isle. What a treat!

The kids loved waking up in the morning and having the beach right in their backyard. In fact, they loved it so much that they went to the beach more times in that one weekend than they had ever been, in the entire time we’d lived in South Florida. (You know what I mean if you’ve ever tried to find parking in South Beach close to the actual beach – or in Ft. Lauderdale) Plus, they loved getting to see their aunts and cousins. It was looking like moving to North Carolina wasn’t going to be a hard sell.

Doing it Dayngr Style

In true Dayngr-style, that weekend I found a house we all loved, made an offer and planned the big move as soon as the kids got out of school on June 7th. Miraculously, we closed on our house June 26th (less a month after seeing it) and packed up our sweet, small, South Florida bungalow and it the road. We had one goal. Make sure we were in our new house in time to celebrate Bella’s birthday, before the 4th of July.

Making Our Deadline

The good news was, we made our deadline and we did it just in time to celebrate Lola’s birthday and have an Independence Day celebration. The big party was a great way to kick-off our new life in our new home and it was a great excuse to spend some quality time with my family. The only bad news was that not everything went as planned with the big move and my orchid died on the way. Other than that, everything went smoothly.

A little crazy, but life is short, right? Go for what you want!